Saint-Étienne sex tape case: before the municipal elections, the victim's son wants to "clean the town hall with a pressure washer"

"It is urgent to clean the town hall with a pressure washer." In a video given to the media Radio Gaga , Augustin Artigues, son of Gilles Artigues - the former first deputy mayor of Saint-Étienne and victim in the sex tape blackmail affair that has rocked the town for more than three years, sharply criticized the current majority, Gaël Perdriau.

These words did not go unnoticed by the Republicans, the party of which he is a member within the LR youth movement. He was reprimanded by the former Loire MP Dino Cinieri who deplored to the newspaper Le Progrès "a gratuitous and useless controversy" while his party had promised "a clean campaign" . In a press release distributed to our colleagues, Jean-Pierre Taite, president of the LR federation of the Loire, said he was "totally opposed to personal attacks, insulting remarks and controversies inciting hatred" and mentioned possible sanctions against the young activist.

Sanctions that should not go beyond public reprimand. Contacted by Le Figaro , Dino Cinieri regrets "having reacted a little too harshly." "Augustin is a young boy who has suffered in the context of the affair. We must put his reaction down to youth. We will try to meet. It will also be an opportunity to see our youth teams to remind everyone that we have already had enough controversy here and that we do not want to add to it," tempers the former mayor of Firminy.

Gaël Perdriau, the current mayor of Saint-Étienne, is due to be tried for "blackmail" and "misappropriation of public funds" at the end of September in Lyon in the sex tape affair . The trial will begin at the same time as the municipal election campaign, in which it is not yet known whether he will be a candidate. Facing him, a broad coalition ranging from the PRG to the LR has already been organized to create "a republican arc with Saint-Étienne Ensemble" to put an end to the Perdriau era.

A collective that includes Dino Cinieri, who wants "a clean campaign" : "We are here for the people of Saint-Étienne. To revive Saint-Étienne with people from all walks of life. We want to combine our skills to revive the city's dynamic and so that people speak well of Saint-Étienne again." The head of the list for this movement will be designated next September via a survey commissioned from an independent institute.